The Undiscovered Symmetry of the Bible—An Interview with David Noel Freedman—Part II

Readers of our December issue will recall David Noel Freedman’s analysis of the organization of the Hebrew Bible and his insights into when the Hebrew Bible assumed its final shape (“How the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament Differ—An Interview with David Noel Freedman—Part I,” BR 09:06). In this concluding half of the interview, Freedman, General Editor of the 55 volumes (and still growing) of the Anchor Bible Series and former editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature, explores the remarkable symmetry within the Hebrew Bible and then suggests how that symmetry is mirrored in the New Testament.

HS: I know you make a lot of numerical connections and find a lot of symmetry in the books of the Hebrew Bible. Can you explain some of these?